Editing Pythia (section)

==Organization of the Oracle==

===Priestess===
{{See also|Hiereia}}
[[File:The Oracle of Delphi Entranced.jpg|thumb|230x230px|''The Oracle of Delphi Entranced'' by [[Heinrich Leutemann]]]]
Since the first operation of the oracle of the Temple of Delphi, it was believed that the god lived within a laurel (his holy plant) and gave oracles for the future with the rustling of the leaves. It was also said that the art of divination had been taught to the god by the three winged sisters of Parnassus, the Thriae, at the time when Apollo was grazing his cattle there. The Thriae used to have a {{Lang|grc-latn|Kliromanteion}} (oracle by lot) in that area in the past and it is possible that such was the first oracle of Delphi, i.e. using the lot (throwing lots in a container and pulling a lot, the color and shape of which were of particular importance).

Three oracles had successively operated in Delphi – the {{Lang|grc-latn|chthonion}} using {{Lang|grc-latn|egkoimisi}} (a procedure that involved sleeping in the holy place, so as to experience a revealing dream), the {{Lang|grc-latn|Kliromanteion}} and finally the Apollonian, with the laurel. But ever since the introduction of the cult of Dionysus at Delphi, the god that brought his followers into ecstasy and madness, the Delphic god gave oracles through Pythia, who also fell into a trance under the influence of vapors and fumes coming from the opening, the inner sanctum of the Oracle. Pythia sat on top of a tall gilded tripod that stood above the opening. In the old days, Pythia was a virgin, young girl, but after [[Echecrates of Thessaly]] kidnapped and violated a young and beautiful Pythia in the late 3rd century BC, a woman older than fifty years old was chosen, who dressed and wore jewelry to resemble a young maiden girl. According to tradition, [[Phemonoe]] was the first Pythia.<ref>Πάνος Βαλαβάνης, Ιερά και Αγώνες στην Αρχαία Ελλάδα – Νέμεα – Αθήνα, Αθήνα, 2004, 176.</ref><ref>Γιάννης Λάμψας, Λεξικό του Αρχαίου Κόσμου, τ. Α', Αθήνα, εκδόσεις Δομή, 1984, 758.</ref>

Though little is known of how the priestess was chosen, the Pythia was probably selected, at the death of her predecessor, from amongst a guild of priestesses of the temple. These women were all natives of Delphi and were required to have had a sober life and be of good character.{{sfn|Broad|2007|p=31-32}}<ref>Herbert W Parke, ''History of the Delphic Oracle'' and H.W. Parke and D.E.W. Wormell ''The Delphic oracle'', 1956 Volume 1: The history attempt the complicated reconstruction of the oracle's institutions; a recent comparison of the process of select at Delphi with Near Eastern oracles is part of Herbert B. Huffman, "The Oracular Process: Delphi and the Near East" ''[[Vetus Testamentum]]'' '''57'''.4, (2007:449–60).</ref> Although some were married, upon assuming their role as the Pythia, the priestesses ceased all family responsibilities, marital relations, and individual identity. In the heyday of the oracle, the Pythia may have been a woman chosen from an influential family, well educated in geography, politics, history, philosophy, and the arts. During later periods, however, uneducated peasant women were chosen for the role, which may explain why the poetic [[pentameter]] or [[hexameter]] prophecies of the early period were later made only in [[prose]]. Often, the priestess's answers to questions would be put into hexameter by a priest.{{sfn|Godwin|1876|p=11}} The archaeologist John Hale reports that:

{{quotation|the Pythia was (on occasion) a noble of aristocratic family, sometimes a peasant, sometimes rich, sometimes poor, sometimes old, sometimes young, sometimes a very lettered and educated woman to whom somebody like the high priest and the philosopher Plutarch would dedicate essays, other times who could not write her own name. So it seems to have been aptitude rather than any ascribed status that made these women eligible to be Pythias and speak for the god.<ref>quoted in an interview on the radio program "The Ark", [http://www.abc.net.au/rn/relig/ark/stories/s1266794.htm transcript available] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070602183338/http://www.abc.net.au/rn/relig/ark/stories/s1266794.htm |date=2007-06-02 }}.</ref>}}

The job of a priestess, especially the Pythia, was a respectable career for Greek women. Priestesses enjoyed many liberties and rewards for their social position, such as freedom from taxation, the right to own property and attend public events, a salary and housing provided by the state, a wide range of duties depending on their affiliation, and often gold crowns.{{sfn|Broad|2007|p=32}}

During the main period of the oracle's popularity, as many as three women served as Pythia, another vestige of the triad, with two taking turns in giving prophecy and another kept in reserve.<ref>Plutarch ''Moralia'' 414b.</ref> Only one day of the month could the priestess be consulted.{{sfn|Godwin|1876|p=11}}

Plutarch said<ref>{{cite web |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Moralia/De_defectu_oraculorum*.html |title=Plutarch • On the Failure of Oracles |publisher=Penelope.uchicago.edu |access-date=2012-03-19 |archive-date=2024-02-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240213030019/https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Moralia/De_defectu_oraculorum%2A.html |url-status=live }}</ref> that the Pythia's life was shortened through the service of Apollo. The sessions were said to be exhausting. At the end of each period the Pythia would be like a runner after a race or a dancer after an ecstatic dance, which may have had a physical effect on the health of the Pythia.

===Other officiants===
Several other [[officiant]]s served the oracle in addition to the Pythia.<ref>On the temple personnel, see Roux 1976, pp. 54–63.</ref> After 200 BC, at any given time, there were two priests of Apollo, who were in charge of the entire sanctuary; Plutarch, who served as a priest during the late first century and early second century CE, gives us the most information about the organization of the oracle at that time. Before 200 BC, while the temple was dedicated to Apollo, there was probably only one priest of Apollo. Priests were chosen from among the main citizens of Delphi, and were appointed for life. In addition to overseeing the oracle, priests would also conduct sacrifices at other festivals of Apollo, and had charge of the [[Pythian Games]]. Earlier arrangements, before the temple became dedicated to Apollo, are not documented.

The other officiants associated with the oracle are less well known. These are the '''{{Lang|grc-latn|hosioi}}''' ({{Lang|grc|ὅσιοι}}, 'holy ones') and the '''{{Lang|grc|prophētai}}''' ({{Lang|grc|προφῆται}}, singular {{Lang|grc-latn|prophētēs}}). {{Lang|grc-latn|Prophētēs}} is the origin of the English word ''prophet'', with the meaning 'one who forespeaks, one who foretells'. The {{Lang|grc-latn|prophetai}} are referred to in literary sources, but their function is unclear; it has been suggested that they interpreted the Pythia's prophecies, or even reformatted her utterances into verse, but it has also been argued that the term ''{{Lang|grc-latn|prophētēs}}'' is a generic reference to any cult officials of the sanctuary, including the Pythia.<ref>Bowden 2005, pp. 15–16; see also [[Herodotus]] 8.36, [[Euripides]] ''Ion'' 413–416.</ref> There were five {{Lang|grc-latn|hosioi}}, whose responsibilities are unknown, but may have been involved in some manner with the operation of the oracle.

===Oracular procedure===
In the traditions associated with Apollo, the oracle gave prophecies during the nine warmest months of each year. During winter months, Apollo was said to have deserted his temple, his place being taken by his divine half-brother [[Dionysus]], whose tomb was also within the temple. It is not known whether the Oracle participated with the Dionysian rites of the [[Maenads]] or Thyades in the Korykion cave on Mount Parnassos, although [[Plutarch]]<ref>Plutarch, op cit</ref> informs us that his friend Clea was both a Priestess to Apollo and to the secret rites of Dionysus. The male priests seem to have had their own ceremonies to the dying and resurrecting god. Apollo was said to return at the beginning of spring, on the seventh day of the month of Bysios, his birthday. This would reiterate the absences of the great goddess [[Demeter]] in winter also, which would have been a part of the earliest traditions.

Once a month, thereafter, the oracle would undergo purification rites, including fasting, to ceremonially prepare the Pythia for communications with the divine. On the seventh day of each month, she would be led by two attended oracular priests, with her face veiled in purple.<ref>Vandenberg, Phillip, (2007) "Mysteries of the Oracles (Tauris Parke Publications)</ref> A priest would then declaim:

<blockquote><poem>Servant of the Delphian Apollo
Go to the Castallian Spring
Wash in its silvery eddies,
And return cleansed to the temple.
Guard your lips from offence
To those who ask for oracles.
Let the God's answer come
Pure from all private fault.</poem></blockquote>

The Pythia would then bathe naked in the [[Castalian Spring]], then drink the holier waters of the [[Cassotis]], which flowed closer to the temple, where a [[naiad]] possessing magical powers was said to live. Euripides described this ritual purification ceremony, starting first with the priest Ion dancing on the highest point of Mount Parnassus, going about his duties within the temple, and sprinkling the temple floor with holy water. The purification ceremonies always were performed on the seventh day of the month, which was sacred to and associated with the god Apollo.{{sfn|Broad|2007|p=34-36}} Then, escorted by the {{Lang|grc-latn|hosioi}}, an aristocratic council of five, with a crowd of oracular servants, they would arrive at the temple. Consultants, carrying laurel branches sacred to Apollo, approached the temple along the winding upward course of the Sacred Way, bringing a young goat kid for sacrifice in the forecourt of the temple, and a monetary fee.

Inscribed on a column in the [[pronaos]] (forecourt) of the temple were an enigmatic "E" and three maxims:<ref>[[Plato]] ''[[Charmides (dialogue)|Charmides]]'' 165</ref><ref>Allyson Szabo ''Longing For Wisdom: The Message Of The Maxims'' 2008 {{ISBN|1438239769}} p8</ref>

# [[Know thyself]]
# Nothing to excess
# Surety brings ruin, or "make a pledge and mischief is nigh" ({{Lang|grc|ἐγγύα πάρα δ'ἄτα}})<ref>Eliza G. Wilkins (April 1927). [https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/360881 "ΕΓΓΥΑ, ΠΑΡΑ ΔΑΤΗ in Literature"].{{subscription required}} {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240213025929/https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/360881 |date=2024-02-13 }} ''Classical Philology'' Volume 22, Number 2, p. 121. {{doi|10.1086/360881}}. {{JSTOR|263511}}.</ref>

These seem to have played an important part in the temple ritual. According to Plutarch's essay on the meaning of the "E at Delphi" (the only literary source for the E inscription), there have been various interpretations of this letter.<ref>Hodge, A. Trevor. "The Mystery of Apollo's E at Delphi", ''American Journal of Archaeology'', Vol. 85, No. 1. (January 1981), pp. 83–84.</ref> In ancient times, the origin of these phrases was attributed to one or more of the [[Seven Sages of Greece]].<ref>[[Plato]], ''[[Protagoras (dialogue)|Protagoras]]'' 343a–b.</ref>

Pythia would then remove her purple veil. She would wear a short plain white dress. At the temple fire to [[Hestia]], a live goat kid would be set in front of the altar and sprinkled with water. If the kid trembled from the hooves upward it was considered a good omen for the oracle, but if it did not, the enquirer was considered to have been rejected by the god and the consultation was terminated.<ref>{{cite book|last=Jon D. |title=Ancient Greek Religion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_0Xa5uL8ZOEC&pg=PA99|date= 2011|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-4443-5819-3|page=99}}</ref> If it were a good omen, however, the goat would subsequently be sacrificed to Apollo. In turn, the animal's organs, particularly its liver, [[Haruspex#Haruspicy in Ancient Greece|were examined to ensure the signs were favorable]], and then burned outside on the altar of [[Chios]]. The rising smoke was a signal that the oracle was open. The Oracle then descended into the ''[[adyton]]'' (Greek for 'inaccessible') and mounted her tripod seat, holding laurel leaves and a dish of Kassotis spring water into which she gazed. Nearby was the ''[[omphalos]]'' (Greek for 'navel'), which was flanked by two solid gold eagles representing the authority of [[Zeus]], and the cleft from which emerged the sacred [[pneuma]].

Petitioners drew lots to determine the order of admission, but representatives of a city-state or those who brought larger donations to Apollo were secured a higher place in line. Each person approaching the oracle was accompanied with a {{Lang|grc-latn|proxenos}} specific to the state of the petitioner, whose job was to identify the citizen of their {{Lang|grc-latn|polis}}. This service, too, was paid for.{{citation needed|date=September 2016}}

Plutarch describes the events of one session in which the omens were ill-favored, but the Oracle was consulted nonetheless. The priests proceeded to receive the prophecy, but the result was a hysterical uncontrollable reaction from the priestess that resulted in her death a few days later.

At times when the Pythia was not available, consultants could obtain guidance by asking simple yes-or-no questions to the priests. A response was returned through the tossing of colored beans, one color designating "yes", another "no". Little else is known of this practice.{{sfn|Broad|2007|p=38-40}}

Between 535 and 615 of the Oracles (statements) of Delphi are known to have survived since classical times, of which over half are said to be accurate historically (see [[List of oracular statements from Delphi]] for examples).<ref>Fontenrose, op cit</ref>

Cicero noted no expedition was undertaken, no colony sent out, and no affair of any distinguished individuals went on without the sanction of the oracle.{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}}

The early fathers of the Christian church believed demons were allowed to assist them to spread idolatry, so that the need for a savior would be more evident.{{sfn|Godwin|1876|p=12}}

===Experience of supplicants===
[[File:Claude Lorrain 027.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|''View of Delphi with Sacrificial Procession'' by [[Claude Lorrain]]]]

In antiquity, the people who went to the Oracle to ask for advice were known as "consultants", literally, "those who seek counsel".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wisecounselresearch.com/research/portrait-gallery/delphic-oracle |title=The Delphic Oracle &#124; Wise Counsel Research Associates |access-date=2013-05-14 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131226095012/http://www.wisecounselresearch.com/research/portrait-gallery/delphic-oracle |archive-date=2013-12-26 }} sighted 14/5/2013</ref> It would appear that the supplicant to the oracle would undergo a four-stage process, typical of [[shaman]]ic journeys.

* Step 1: '''Journey to Delphi'''—Supplicants were motivated by some need to undertake the long and sometimes arduous journey to Delphi in order to consult the oracle. This journey was motivated by an awareness of the existence of the oracle, the growing motivation on the part of the individual or group to undertake the journey, and the gathering of information about the oracle as providing answers to important questions.
* Step 2: '''Preparation of the supplicant'''—Supplicants were interviewed in preparation of their presentation to the Oracle, by the priests in attendance. The genuine cases were sorted and the supplicant had to go through rituals involving the framing of their questions, the presentation of gifts to the Oracle and a procession along the Sacred Way carrying laurel leaves to visit the temple, symbolic of the journey they had made.
* Step 3: '''Visit to the Oracle'''—The supplicant would then be led into the temple to visit the ''[[adyton]]'', put his question to the Pythia, receive his answer and depart. The degree of preparation already undergone would mean that the supplicant was already in a very aroused and meditative state, similar to the shamanic journey elaborated on in the article.
* Step 4: '''Return home'''—Oracles were meant to give advice to shape future action, which was meant to be implemented by the supplicant, or by those that had sponsored the supplicant to visit the Oracle. The validity of the Oracular utterance was confirmed by the consequences of the application of the oracle to the lives of those people who sought Oracular guidance.<ref>Fontenrose, Joseph (1981), "Delphic Oracle: Its Responses and Operations". (University of California Press)</ref>

===The Role of Consultants===
The relationship between the Pythia, Delphic officials, and consultants who sought advice at the temple is shown in contemporary research on the Delphic Oracle. Individuals, city-states, and political officials were among the advisors. Additionally, they have actively contributed to the influence of the Pythia's oracular pronouncements. This interpretation challenges earlier views that considered the Delphic Oracle as a centralized political force that helps to exert a unilateral influence across the Greek and Mediterranean region. Instead, the production and interpretation of oracles emerge as collaborative processes involving multiple stakeholders. 

The idea that Delphi’s prominence as a religious and cultural center was strengthened by its reputation as the “navel of the world” (omphalos). The Pythia was seen as providing a channel and connect between the divine and human realms, her words imbued with the authority of Apollo. Scholars such as Simon Hornblower suggest that the Delphic Oracle’s influence extended beyond religion, serving as a mechanism for conflict resolution, interstate diplomacy, and political legitimation.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hornblower |first=Simon |title=Pindar's poetry, patrons, and festivals: from Archaic Greece to the Roman Empire |last2=Morgan |first2=Catherine |date=2007 |publisher=Oxford university press |isbn=978-0-19-929672-9 |location=Oxford}}</ref> However, this view often considered as overestimating the power of the Pythia and her attendant priests. Hence reducing the level of influence of the consultants to passive recipients of divine messages. Recent studies challenge this assumption by highlighting the role of consultants played in framing questions, interpreting responses, and implementing decisions during the process. 

In modern theories, consultants shaped the form and content of oracles through their own political, social, and personal contexts.<ref name=":1">{{Cite thesis |last=Dobyns |first=Norita Dalene |title=Power, performance and the Pythia: the political use of Delphic oracles |date=2005 |publisher=The Ohio State University |url=https://etd.ohiolink.edu/acprod/odb_etd/etd/r/1501/10?clear=10&p10_accession_num=osu1302718588 |language=en}}</ref> This dynamic undermines the notion of the oracle as an independent political force, instead stressing the shared agency between Delphic officials and those who sought the god’s counsel.

===The collaboration during Oracular Productions===
In order to provide an oracle, procedures that focused on cooperation between consultants and the Delphic priest will be carried out. Before posing their queries to the Pythia, consultants would engage in a purification and sacrifice ritual. These questions were carefully adjusted, often with guidance from the priests (prophētai), to align with the expectations of Apollo’s wisdom. The Pythia that induced by divine possession or inhale sacred fumes will enter a trance state, hence delivered responses that were often ambiguous or cryptic.{{snf|Fontenrose|1978}}  

Scholars argues that the Pythia’s utterances were not unintelligible gibberish, as traditionally believed, but meaningful statements requiring collaborative decoding.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Maurizio |first=Lisa |date=2001b |title=The Voice At The Center Of The World: The Pythias’ Ambiguity And Authority |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv36zqbc.8 |access-date=2025-03-27 |website=JSTOR}}</ref> The interpretation of these responses was shaped by the consultants’ framing under the guidance of the priests. And hence to impact in sociopolitical context. The process helps to build connection between human and the divine, hence reducing the gap between people and gods. 

The oracular text was not only a fixed and authoritative pronouncement. It was also subject to negotiation and reinterpretation. A well-documented example is the oracle granted to King Croesus of Lydia, which stated, "If you cross the Halys, you will destroy a great empire." The king misinterpreted the statement, and Croesus started a catastrophic war that resulted in the collapse of his own empire after mistaking the words for a promise of triumph.<ref>{{Citation |last=Herodotus |title=Histories |date=1998-03-05 |work=Oxford World's Classics: Herodotus: The Histories |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/oseo/instance.00271233 |access-date=2025-03-27 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-953566-8}}</ref> This episode illustrates the ambiguity inherent in many oracles, which consultants often interpreted in ways that fulfills their desires or expectations. The text might be falsely interpreted for one's sake. 

Consultants were instrumental in shaping oracles by framing questions and selectively interpreting responses. This tackle questions conventional views of oracles as unilateral declarations of divine will, presenting them instead as dialogical and context dependent.<ref name=":1" />

===Modern Interpretations of the Pythia===
Modern interpretations of the Pythia emphasize her symbolic and ritualistic importance but sometimes neglect her direct involvement in political decision-making. Catherine Morgan notes that the Pythia’s role was deeply embedded in the religious and cultural fabric of Greek society, serving as both a mediator of divine will and a symbol of Apollo’s authority.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199296729.001.0001 |title=Pindar’s Poetry, Patrons, and Festivals |date=2007-02-07 |publisher=Oxford University PressOxford |isbn=978-0-19-929672-9 |editor-last=Hornblower |editor-first=Simon |editor-last2=Morgan |editor-first2=Catherine}}</ref> 

This shift reflects a deeper understanding of ancient Greek religion, recognizing the complexity of the Pythia’s role as both a channel for Apollo’s voice and an active participant in oracular practices.